When economic times are unpredictable, it's more important than ever to do the smart things that will maintain and assure the health of your business. Many people panic and get off track when they hear a plethora of adverse economic messages and conflicting political rhetoric. Rather than getting hopelessly caught up in all of the confusion, do the following things to keep you on track:

1. Don't keep your all of your ‘eggs' in one basket

Many distributors get too comfortable when they derive most of their business from a few very large accounts. This approach works great as long as things are rosy, but the loss of one large account can turn high expectations into disaster overnight. Take a critical look at your account list to see if it is diversified, both in size and types of companies. It's far better to derive your income from many smaller and medium sized accounts than just a few large ones.

I learned this lesson the hard way. In 1996, more than 25% of my volume came from just one account— The Dallas Times Herald, Dallas' afternoon newspaper. My business was consistently good because I visited the newspaper at least once a week; and there were usually several orders from different departments waiting for me to pick up. Then one day it all came to an abrupt end. I picked up a copy of the paper one day and the headline read, “Herald sold to the Dallas Morning News .” Unfortunately for me, the News was not one of my other accounts and, in an instant, I lost one- fourth of my business. I learned very quickly that I needed to expand my market. To do so, I hired an outside source to help me design a bounce-back mailer card that offered a free gift to anyone who would send it back. The card program worked well; a year after starting it, I'd acquired more than twenty-five new accounts. Their volume more than made up for the loss I experienced with the newspaper.

1. Present yourself correctly

There is nothing more important than making sure that potential customers form a positive opinion of you on the spot. The first sales tool that introduces you and your company to a prospect is your business card. If it looks professional, then the recipient will think that way about you. If it appears inexpensive and poorly designed, you will leave the instant impression that you are too cheap to spend the necessary money to make a positive impression with something as basic as your business card and you will lose the prospect's respect and confidence.

When I started my business in 1981, there were hundreds of established distributors in the Dallas area and I knew that I must do something to make myself stand out. In the first five years, I changed my card three different times. The information always remained the same but I changed the style of the card. One time I had it printed on a very heavy card stock, while another time I used one made out of rubber. I even had one printed on wood. Everyone always commented on how unique my card was and admitted that they kept it because it was so different. Our current card is made of 30M plastic and is printed on one side with my info and the other side with my wife Susan's name. The combination of a thick plastic card (it looks and feels like a credit card) and the fact we both have our names printed on one card, albeit on different sides, always brings us attention when we hand them out. After this card, we may change to one featuring lenticular graphics.

1. Don't waste time

When the economy is in such a state of flux, it's important that you get as much as you can out of every minute of every day. That means planning your time and sticking to your “to do” list as much as possible. At the end of each day, make notes to yourself, detailing what you need to do on the coming day. Lay out the next day's samples and catalogs in preparation for outside calls.You never know what the next day may throw at you, so having a plan keeps your from wasting time if you're thrown a curve ball.

I used to wait until the last minute to get things together. I learned the error of my ways one day when I showed up for a sales call with a customer who wanted to see a certain product. Although I made it to the call with the catalog, I forgot to bring along the accompanying product. Since the customer wanted to see an actual sample and I didn't have it, the sale was postponed until I could get one to him. I was lucky to have closed the sale at all. After my experience with the forgotten sample, I learned my lesson and changed the way I put my sales materials together. I never, and I mean never, go to bed until I have everything ready for the next day's calls. Sometimes I even load the car the night before so that I don't have to do so the next morning.

1. Check supplier inventory regularly

There is nothing worse than making a sale and then finding out that the merchandise you sold is not available. With economic times like these, some suppliers could be running very tight on inventories. Also, when some new products are unveiled, they sell faster than anticipated which causes them to be out of stock. Make sure you don't have inventory problems by calling factories to make sure items can be delivered on time.

When I started out, I sold several orders which I learned were on back order. When that happens, you go from a feeling of euphoria that comes from making the sale to one of fear and anxiety. Besides facing the possibility of totally losing the sale, the stress brought on by these situations was not something I needed when I was building my business. I now avoid that type of aggravation by calling the suppliers to make sure the quantity I need is available. We do this because we don't want to backtrack on orders, especially on ones with tight delivery dates. This helps us to feel more safe than sorry, particularly with suppliers new to us.

Selling is hard under the best of circumstances, and can be especially tough for some people during times of shifting economic sands. By taking these few intentional steps, not only will you write more orders, but also you'll experience greater piece of mind. By controlling your own actions, you have a better chance of preventing other people from dictating your future.